The Saboteur
by Sage of Eyes
Summary: Sarutobi found Naruto alone the night the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him. Untrusting of the villagers he burned the instructions and all evidence of Naruto's survival and took it upon himself to create one more Sannin... one with no faults. Large amounts of gore and violence, please read with discretion.
1. Chapter 1

The Saboteur

By EyesofTCN

Disclaimer: why would I be writing this if I owned Naruto?

Disclaimer 2: For all the dim wits out there: I do not own Naruto

…

Sometimes when you close your eyes…

You see…

The place where you used to live…

When you were young…

When You Were Young by The Killers

…

Did you ever have that feeling? The feeling you get whenever you do something you don't want but you _have_ too? That was what Sarutobi Hiruzen at that moment felt. He stood there in the rain watching a young boy, who was no more than four, train in the distance. Whereas where he was the rain was but a small drizzle the rain seemed to thicken considerably where his eyes lay upon the boy's figure. His Hokage hat and robes kept the rain off his face and body. The boy however had no such protection from the rain.

The long sleeves of the shirt whipped through the air as the boy slashed his right arm horizontally hitting the imaginary enemy across the face. As if anticipating a wall the arm bent pulling into the chest. The movement did not stop there, though it seemed as if it did, the moment the boy's straightened hand touched his chest he bent low arching only his back leaving his legs spread in the original position and elbowed the opponent in the face with the force of his legs and upper torso. The boy coolly, calculating in a few milliseconds that the blow would have caused the opponent to fly off the ground a few inches made his next move in a second. The elbow, which was still straight up from the imaginary movement, arced to the left along his body. With a shift the boy's body spun one leg following after another mimicking a famous Jonin's Konoha Hurricane. The move caused the water to be swatted aside in force creating a brief lull in the drops before it started to pound him once again in full force once the small boy stood straight.

The second the boy's back was straight there was an unmistakable, pop of a shunshin and the boy immediately stiffened and bowed towards the figure undoubtedly believing that it was the only man who even knew of his existence: the third Hokage. Once he had asked the man for his real name and was curtly answered no. The Hokage in front of him was clothes that he always saw him wear: the Kage robes and hat in addition with a white mask which hung from the opposites sides of the hat leaving only wizened eyes for the child to see. The boy felt a shiver go up his spine as the man took him in with his eyes.

"Your kick was off by a full inch boy," the Hokage said coldly and the boy who was still bowing felt a shiver go up his spine. An entire inch, an inch which would either led to the death of enemy or himself…and because he missed… it would have led to his.

"I apologize for the mistake Hokage-sama!" the boy declared with force "It will not happen again!"

Silence.

"See that you do not," said the Hokage with disdain slightly mixing in his words. In his heart he wanted to hug and give the boy the comfort of a family and give the hero mantle to him by declaring him and his father's actions to the entire population in hopes of the boy receiving praise and adoration. Hope however does not make the world turn. He is inherently grateful that he found the boy alone after dismissing his guards on the premise that he was less likely to be detected by the fox alone and that they were more useful helping the people to the shelters. When he found the boy amid the corpses of his parents and after reading the letter he was addressed by the late Minato he steeled his heart and burned the letter with a jutsu as well as the birth records connected to it after he found out what Minato had done.

His successor was young and didn't understand the people like he did and no matter how much he wants to deny it, the crowd's reaction and death calls would've forced him to call for a law of apathy and ignorance towards the child and would have most likely turned the boy into and impulsive attention-seeking recluse with a fake-smile and an obsession with friendship.

Silence ruled once again as the boy kept his head bowed.

"Have you mastered the Jutsus that I have set, as well as the additional one that I have taken the liberty of adding?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

"Show me."

With that the boy leapt backwards flipping in the air and made the hand seals…

(Three years later)

_Lightning release! Exploding Lighting Dragon!_

…a huge dragon made of lightning streaked out of his open palm, much larger than what he had first made those many years ago, utterly decimating the shadow clones and absorbing the lightning clones, he had created to spar with, before tearing into the forest on one side of the training ground and exploding in a pillar of lightning, which blinded the boy momentarily, in the middle of the forest promptly killing all the wildlife in the epic 3 diameter blast zone.

Once he landed on the ground with a soft _thud_ he took in the destruction of the move and deadpanned.

'_Yeah' _he thought, deadpanning while he scratched the back of his head looking at the crater _'that move could've used less chakra.'_

'_At least the explosion was pretty entertaining. Eh, kit?' _his prisoner added with a chuckle.

'_You're an incorrigible destructive entity, fox.' _The boy grumbled. _'Of course that was entertaining to you.'_

'_I love you too, kit' _the fox chuckled.

The boy scowled as he reached into one of his pockets in the light brown oriental pants he wore and retrieved a ribbon. With practiced skill he swept up all the bangs that reached the lower part of face into a small ponytail and took the end and put it through the ribbon as well making a small bundle at the back of his neck instead of a ponytail which would've reached his back. After doing this he stretched and sighed contently after several bones were re-adjusted.

"With that demonstration in consideration, I daresay, that you are becoming more habituated to the new seal I take it?" a voice suddenly said right next to him making him jump in surprise and making the old Hokage smile though the boy didn't see it because of his mask. The boy immediately bowed clearly bandaged arms firmly at his sides.

"Yes Hokage-sama" he said in monotone while the fox complained at the 'too big' words that the Hokage had used. Apparently the fox had only bothered to learn second grade language before deciding that it was better off just killing the humans rather than learning their customs, "I am completely used to the seal and it's affects by now and I am grateful for your concern Hokage-sama" and bowed lower in gratitude.

His mentor, the greatest of the current Kages, cared about him.

He would have wept had it within decorum to do so.

'_I think I'm gonna puke' _Kyuubi interjected with a retching sound _'never mind I just did.'_

'_Shut up, fox' _theboy thought back angrily

"Think nothing of it, my boy" the Hokage continued "show it to me."

The boy immediately straightened and crossed his bandaged arms, used it to cover his face and took a deep breath …

(Seven years later)

…a gray-cloaked figure exhaled as he sat on a boulder which overlooked upon a waterfall falling into the distance. The figures arms were crossed over his knees, which were against his chest and the figures hooded head lay upon it tiredly.

**SCREEECH!**

A bird screeched and an object came flying at him. Moments before impact there was a, sudden, blur and he was already examining it. It was a circular metal device with a long vertical protrusion on one side and another smaller one on the opposite side. Padding was present on one side a sort of mesh in the middle the other side being completely flat. Without any fear he yanked on the smaller protrusion and placed it against his mouth and the rest of the device against his right ear after inserting it through the.

There was a crackle before a voice came in.

"You're a very hard man to find, Maelstrom-san" the voice said through the receiver "this is third time that I have sent this bird after you"

"I am always hard to find when one doesn't look in the right place," Maelstrom replied coolly "especially hard on my vacation."

'_Ooohhhhh' _the fox said with a chuckle_ 'burn.'_

The voice seemed to hesitate before speaking.

"I would like you to know that I am completely aware of the fact that you are on vacation and…" he paused.

'_Aaannnnnddddd?' _the fox said greedily on their telepathic link. Kyuubi knew _exactly_ how it was gonna end… with money.

"And, Hokage-sama?" Maelstrom asked

"…I am fully prepared to compensate this with overtime pay and in addition to regular payment as well as 30 percent of the targets company." the Hokage finished. The trap was set…

Maelstrom cocked his head and Kyuubi mimicked the action inside, "and who might _this target be?' _Maelstrom asked/Kyuubi thought.

The Hokage grinned inside his office. "Gato of Gato Shipping" And the capture is complete.

Both Kyuubi and Maelstrom were brain dead for a full minute as a breeze passed by.

"I gladly accept the mission Hokage-sama." Maelstrom quickly answered as Kyuubi sat in his head still, somewhat, brain dead "I would like to hear the mission parameters and the main objectives as well as the ones on the side."

"You wound me Maelstrom-san" the Hokage said as if hurt. It was one of their pastimes… "Why would you think there are additional objectives? Do you think of me as a harsh taskmaster?"

"Yes." Maelstrom answered bluntly while Kyuubi once again complained at the large words.

"Point-taken"

"Always has been, Hokage-sama"

"Stop trying to be a smartass, Maelstrom"

"Yes Hokage-sama"

"A team consisting of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kiba Inuzaka along with their Jonin sensei, Kakashi Hatake has been duped into a potential A-rank protection mission under the guise of a normal C-rank escort mission." Sarutobi began "they are currently attempting to protect the builder while training to match 'the Demon of Mist' Zabuza Momochi as well as his apprentice. You still with me, Maelstrom-san?

"Yes, Hokage-sama"

"Good, we don't want a repeat of _the last mission… _do we now Maelstrom-san? The Hokage said a bit of killer intent leaking.

"O-of course not, Hokage-sama!" Jeez he forgot to hang-up once…well twice really…

"Your objective is to kill Gato and seize his company and personal holdings thirty percent of which will go to the village and another thirty to you. However the rest, as well as the company, goes to the hidden leaf village as payment. Your side objective is to neutralize Zabuza and his apprentice or convince them to join our little project.

"Consider it done Hokage-sama" said with a nod though he felt slightly foolish when the fox reminded him the Hokage was at least a couple hundred miles away.

"Good," Sarutobi said "remember to destroy this once you're done with it"

"Yes, Hokage-sama"

*beep*

Maelstrom sighed as he got up the lower part of his cloak became visible and was revealed to be in tatters giving away the frequent usage and age of the item. He shrugged off the hood revealing a young and unmarred face save for six 'whisker' scars on his cheek. He wore his now stark white hair the same as he did when he was seven the 'bun' at his nape however was gone replaced by noticeably larger stalk of carefully braided hair which hung around his neck and went off his shoulder. He reached inside his cloak and took out a plain black mask with tinted black, triangular lenses (i.e. like Spiderman) instead of 'traditional' eyeholes. With a flash he grabbed the headset on his right ear with his left hand and placed his right hand on his chest an inscription on the glove immediately began to suck the cloak in the minute he pushed chakra into it.

As the cloak disappeared he with his left arm threw the headset and with his left hand pressed two chakra-laden fingers across his lips and with a whistle and a sweeping motion sent an 'arrow' made of air chakra across to hit the headpiece and causing it to shatter and explode.

He wore a high-necked formal oriental shirt with no sleeves with cuffed oriental pants and oriental sandals. The lining on the edges as well as the middle of the shirt were gold as well as the tassels that were in place of the buttons. Seals unlike any other glowed on his arms despite the fact they were covered with shoulder length gloves. He made a hand sign as wind picked up around him and disappeared in a flash of lightning dispersing the winds and leaving an ashy mark on the ground as smoke drifted with the wind.

The Saboteur

Chapter one

Fin

2230 words!

Review please.


	2. Chapter 2

The Saboteur

By EyesofTCN

Disclaimer: why would I be writing this if I owned Naruto?

Disclaimer 2: Me. No. Own. Naruto. Slow enough for ya?

…

I did my best to notice…

When the call came down the line…

Up to the platform of surrender…

I was brought…

But I was kind.

Human by The Killers

…

A streak of dark grey went through the misty forest of the Land of Waves in the dead of night. The patch was a tad darker than the mist as it moved fluidly. Suddenly the forest boundary came in view and the lights of a house became visible. Moments later the as the streak of gray came closer it leapt and landed on a tree branch. The now shadowy humanoid form was in a crouch as it took in the house. With a one handed seal he sent out an underpowered shockwave which sent a sphere of electricity outwards of his body. It had enough power to momentarily to short circuit the lights for a few minutes but not harm anything alive…

A squirrel dropped dead onto the same branch he was on fur singed and eyes wide open.

…a few meters away.

He strained his ears and tried to calm his fast beating heart as he counted the ensuing number of gasps which was thanks to the sudden darkness. Only a moment later he nodded and was sure that the old man as well as the ninjas from Konoha was there as well. With that he stood up and drew his explosive tagged kunai to kill them all in one fell swoop…

***SHLUNCK***

Had he not gotten his throat not been cut in that exact moment.

'_How many wannabe ninjas does that make, Kyuubi?' _Maelstrom asked with a sigh as he bent to pick up the tagged kunai.

'_Ten.' _Kyuubi answered dryly

'_How many of these idiots am I gonna have to kill before they realize it's a suicide mission, you think Kyuubi?_'Maelstrom asked curiously as the gloves absorbed the kunai and explosive tags.A second later two seals came up on the back on each of his hands: kunai and explosive tag. The seals glowed briefly for a second before minimizing and traveling down his arm assimilating into the fabric itself.

'_How the heck should I know, kit? I'm not the one makin' the missions.' _Kyuubi said raising an eyebrow at the curiosity in his jailors voice.

'_Technically you should know… since you are the usual focus on those kinds of missions…'_

'…'

'…'

'_Fuck you, kit'_

'_Just pointing the facts out, Kyuubi…' _he thought with a shrug.

Maelstrom hefted the grey clad wannabe ninja with little effort, despite the fact the man was significantly larger, and, with a last look at the house, leapt into the distance.

…

It was relatively simple to get to the Land of Waves and since his only travel companion was technically himself he remained undetected when he donned his grey cloak and adopted one of the, rather cool, wicker hats. With a few correctly placed bribes he managed to get the entire town's history as well as a few, rather colorful, statements on the town's status, which all in all ended with the same word: fucked.

Gato had the entire place by the balls. With a word and a wave of his hand he could have every single one of the men killed and the women and children raped. But he didn't because of appearances of course. Outside of Wave everyone thought of Gato as a regular CEO business man: greedy yet reasonably restrained against intolerable acts.

It was a different story, however, in the town itself. Gato made sure only the businesses that paid the extravagant 'protection' fees he issued out were left standing destroying the town's economy by taking away jobs. He then assumed a tyrannical rule over the people in wave using mercenaries and hired thugs to do his dirty work. But most importantly he had anybody who had even an inkling of defiance killed and the woman that did were met with even worse fates leaving the villagers broken in spirit as well as in body.

Maelstrom hated men like him.

He was _allowed_ to kill men like him.

Being a mercenary had its perks.

…

Haku's steps were languid and wasted no effort as she made a beeline for a clearing in which the herbs she was searching for lay. To a seasoned body reader her posture belied constant attention to her surroundings despite her slow and easy gait. To an expert body reader the constant rigidness of her back and the carefully measured strides of her legs despite the flowing skirt of the brown hakama would've belied something else: senbon.

Lots of senbon.

She wore her hair down and it flowed gracefully down her back, swaying as she walked.

She however froze at the sight of the clearing. What was once a peaceful clearing with plentiful wildlife was something else entirely…

A graveyard.

Numerous wooden pillars with numbers ranging from one to fifteen were staked upon the numerous graves that covered the clearing. The ground where she had seen the herbs recently was covered with the most recent grave. It was easily ascertained of course due to the fact that the soil on that grave was the most recently upturned.

It had nothing to do with the fact it had a wooden post on it with the number fifteen.

Nothing at all.

Haku looked worriedly upon the patch of soil. Why did the number 15 seem so familiar? Where will she get the herbs she needs?

"There would've been far less digging in store for me had your boss actually used his head and stopped sending his wannabe ninja after the seventh disappeared…" a voice piped in sounding melancholy yet oddly excited at the same time. "… but who counts on the CEO's to make good decisions nowadays, eh?"

Haku looked up and paled as a pitch black mask stared back at her from a tree branch. The figure was clad in a light grey cloak which was so tattered with use that it served more as a poncho with armholes and a hood. Black oriental pants and sandals were easily visible to her due to the cloaks tattered lower side. Fringes of white hair covered the top half of the mask and a long braid of white hair was wrapped around his shoulders.

In a flash she shuttered away her fears. Her fears of dying, of killing and numerous other fears were put in chains and tossed in a volcano. Her hands darted into the back of her hakama and retrieved five senbon in each hand. She will fight and win against this attacker who was… not attacking?

"Whoa, there girly!" he yelled holding out his hands in a placating gesture "Relax! I come in peace!" he ducked and jumped onto another tree limb as his old post was peppered with senbon.

Apparently she stopped listening after girly and threw the barrage of senbon in her hand and was already reaching for a second batch.

This was going to be a long day.

…

Maelstrom cursed as a senbon nearly castrated him as he swung from a branch. After an hour the girl/guy (he didn't know which) had stopped trying to make him into a pincushion and started aiming directly for vital points. He of course had no problems with that whatsoever… but going for his bits was WAY out of line!

He leapt to another tree as senbon peppered the spot where he was only seconds before.

'_Just end it already!'_ Kyuubi whined like a kid _'This is really boring!'_

'_Why don't YOU try dodging senbon while trying to figure out how not to kill the thrower!'_ he mentally snarled at Kyuubi as he landed on a branch _'I'm doing all the work here!'_

'_Just knock her out!'_Kyuubi yelled causing Maelstrom to almost stumble into some senbon before he leapt_ 'use that stunning-lightning-thingy!'_

'_I don't have any jutsu like that!'_ He mentally yelled back as he substituted himself with a leaf on another branch _'All my jutsu's kill remember?'_

'_We'll that's pretty stupid.' _Kyuubi snorted_ 'Why do you only know only killing jutsu anyway?'_

'_You said you didn't want your container to have, I quote, a useless waste of chakra that doesn't blow anything up or kill anything, end quote.' _Maelstrom mentally answered as he deadpanned in both realities while hiding behind a bush.

'…'

'_Doesn't feel good biting your own ass accidentally, does it Kyuubi?'_

'_Fuck you, kit.' _Kyuubi growled _'just knock her out already.'_

'_Just knock her out already.' _Maelstrom mocked while he peeked from behind the bush. There were a lot of ways he could do it of course. However he would need to know the girl/boy's gender if he didn't want to end up dead or the girl/boy in a permanent coma. And the easiest way to do that was…

His face set in grim determination he made a shadow clone with a similar grim expression on its face.

Inside his mindscape Kyuubi paled.

'_ummm…. Kit, don't you think this is going to be a little extre-'_

"OI!" he yelled out from his position drawing the girl/boy's attention as the shadow clone rushed to the girl/boy. With speed that surprised Haku Maelstrom and Kyuubi the clone was in front of the boy/girl and promptly did its directive: grope the girl/boy's chest.

The clearing–turned-graveyard was silent as the boy/girl's skin turned from pale to very-very red.

"PERVERT!" the now-affirmed-girl yelled and with a right fist filled with of feminine fury slugged the clone so hard it was sent across the clearing and hit a tree several meters behind the pale white-haired Jinchuuriki.

Without hesitation he rushed the panting girl and dodged the senbon she threw at him with no problem at all. His fist sailing towards her the girl flinched giving him the window he was looking for. With a leap and a back flip in the air he landed right behind her and, stiffening his fingers, chopped her in the back of her neck.

…

Haku cried out in pain as she felt the pull of unconsciousness started to make itself relevant. She had been knocked out the same way many times during her training and the weakness was one of the many reasons she hid her gender in battle or on a mission. She stumbled a bit while holding the back of her throbbing neck.

"Calm down," her masked assailant said suddenly appearing right next to her. His black-and white mask and white hair easily recognizable even through her blurring vision "I'm not a hunter-nin I came here to employ you and you're master's services, Haku."

"Whaa…" she slurred as she began to lose her ability to speak as her legs gave out. She was easily caught by her prospective employer "…h-how do y-you k-know o-our n-n-names?"

"Haku-chan," Her employer chuckled as she blushed furiously at the friendly –chan suffix he added at the end of her name. "The correct question is what I_ don't _know about you two. But don't worry yourself right now I'll explain all when you wake."

With that the world turned into blissful darkness.

…

"Paternal senses…tingling….have too…kill/castrate someone" Zabuza muttered as he stumbled through the hallways of Gato's building kunai in hand despite the fact he was supposed to be in bed.

…

Kakashi felt a shiver go up his spine and was thankful he decided to stay in bed that day. Not that he had a choice, anyways, being paralyzed from the neck down does that to you.

…

Omake

Maelstrom walked out of the clearing carrying Haku slung over his shoulder. After a few quick strides he found his clone and cringed at the damage Haku's feminine fury punch had done to his clones face.

"I'm sorry for making you do that." Maelstrom said with a bow.

His clone gave him the finger before stabbing itself.

The Saboteur

Chapter two

Fin

2013 words!

Review please.

AN: second chapter! Updates every Monday!


	3. Chapter 3

The Saboteur

By EyesofTCN

Disclaimer 1: I don't own Naruto

Disclaimer 2: Okay from now on just look at the disclaimer at the top 'kay?

...

On the corner of main street...

Just tryin' to keep it line...

You say you wanna move on...

And...

You say I'm falling behind...

Can you read my mind?

Can You Read My Mind by The Killers

...

Zabuza's snore carried throughout the room as Haku entered the room that Gato had 'hospitably' given them. It was in and of itself just one room with a kitchen to the side and a door that led to the bathroom to another side with a window that gave them a view of the forest. Within a few minutes she had sealed all her belongings as well as Zabuza's, save his cleaver, in two sealing scrolls.

"Zabuza-sama." she whispered gently kneeling next to the bed

"wha-" Zabuza mumbled before getting a silencing gesture from Haku. With a nod he stood and began to stretch out any kinks he had from laying down for so long.

"We need to leave immediately, Zabuza-sama" she informed as she handed him his cleaver "I was captured by a ninja that referred to himself as 'Maelstrom'." seeing his shocked expression she hurriedly began to explain faster "he informed me that his organization is staging an attack on Gato's base tonight and that we should leave immediately. They intend on seizing the entirety of Gato's company as well as his fortune and that they..."

Zabuza raised a nonexistent eyebrow at the girl's hesitance. He hadn't trained her to be hesitant in anything. From killing to cleaning it should be blunt and direct. Though the time he gave her the 'talk' was anything but…

"And, Haku?" he asked as he stayed stock still with his cleaver "what is it?"

"...they're going to kill everyone in this building Zabuza-sama!" she yelled shocking him "they're going to murder every single person in this building tonight and if we aren't out of this place within an hour we'll die as well!"

Zabuza was shocked at but not at her outburst. The hive-like building, situated in the trees, housed thugs and Gato himself but there were many people in there as well prisoners and slaves were the least of them. Some were just servants and know-nothing-mind-my-own office workers. What could they be playing at?

Zabuza saw through it immediately.

"It's a test, Haku"

Seeing her confused expression he decided to explain.

"They're recruiting us. They're trying to find out whether we're what they're looking for or we aren't" He flexed his shoulders a bit all the while scanning the horizon for the tell-tale he was looking for.

"What do you think they want us to do?" Haku half-whispered.

"Can't really say," Zabuza said with a shrug while walking to the window, "they might want us to leave or they might want us to help them kill everyone in here…or…" he trailed off.

"Or?" Haku questioned.

"Or the white haired bastard wants me to get the civilians out through the servant entrances by kidnapping and impersonating my daughter, badly I might add." Zabuza said flicking the finger at the widow before closing the shutters. Within a split second the cleaver sliced through 'Haku' the henge disappeared clearly showing someone smiling widely before exploding in a plume of smoke.

…

From his perch on a branch Maelstrom chuckled as he lowered his binoculars. Everything was going according to plan. Even though he had to promise Haku that she and Zabuza would get twenty percent of Gato's fortune, which was coming out of his thirty, he was okay with it. The two, if Haku's description of the two's battle tactics were any indication, were well worth the extravagant price. Sarutobi would be pleased with more additions to The Agency already well affiliated with the art of sedition and treachery. Haku, who was lying on another branch, had a smile on her face as well though he was pretty sure she didn't know how to read lips like he did.

Though there was something bothering him…

"Daughter?" he asked with a raised eyebrow blandly staring at the light brown hakama clad girl. her features were ridiculously feminine and would've disbelieved_ anybody_ who said she wasn't a girl. "You're his daughter? Don't answer if you're insulted Haku-chan…but I don't see any resemblance atall."

Haku blushed hotly for a second at the suffix he added at her name as she carefully put the binoculars he had given her on the branch. Honestly! Couldn't he just call her Haku? "Well…I'm an orphan, you see, and Zabuza-sama saved me from growing up alone and hunted in Mist while the bloodline purge was in full effect." Her breath caught a bit before as she remembered…things. her mother dying... killed by her father. her killing her father using her bloodline for the first time by freezing her father's blood to the point that his own blood punctured their vessels.

Maelstrom caught on fast and felt pity for the girl. Many were orphaned in Konoha because of what he contained. But at least it wasn't by fellow humans. Being attacked by an angered beast is one thing but being attacked by people like you, people you trusted, people you loved was another thing entirely. he was even glad he didn't have interaction with the people he protected. during his travels he found that many Jinchuuriki like himself were treated worse than serial killers. being shunned was the least of his fellow's troubles. many had left their villages and slowly descended into madness with only their respective demons to accompany them before losing their will and unleashing their demon only to have it resealed into another unfortunate soul.

_'I resent that' _Kyuubi sniffed in disdain_ 'unlike my other brothers and sisters, Nibi and me happen to be very good conversationalists. Besides they were the ones who put Nibi inside an old man with a weak heart.'_

He sighed and leapt over to Haku's branch, while ignoring Kyuubi, surprising her, and patted her back awkwardly, "C'mon Haku-chan let's get your father and those civilians out a there before he decides to kill'em all."

...

Zabuza grimaced as he checked over the retinue of office workers that he had with him. in ways that was too hard to be explained as well as judicious use of his mist jutsu, he had managed to get them out of the complex undetected with all their belongings. The servants and slaves left to who-knows-where the minute they had escaped but now alone with nothing to do and surrounded by desk mice who kept bothering him about transportation and food, he was about to snap.

"When do we get food?" one of them whined "I'm hungry!"

"How am I gonna get to Konoha?" another whined as well "I haven't had the time to organize my trip"

"Konoha!" another screamed "I have to get to fucking Iwa!"

Zabuza squirmed inside. Men had captured Haku and now they were testing him by asking him to save these civilians before their raid to see whether he and Haku would fit in their organization. He doubted that Haku would've failed her morality test under any circumstances and he really wanted to be there to support her in her first secret organization. On one hand he really wanted to see his adoptive daughter safe and sound…

On the other hand however…

"If you all don't shut up I'll kill you all and then we'll see whether, or not, you should be worried about traveling." Zabuza growled and sighed in satisfaction as he basked in the silence.

He really didn't like desk mice.

The silence he was basking in however was broken only a second afterwards.

"Wow!" Someone exclaimed off to the side "You must be so proud of yourself to scare so many civilians like that!"

Zabuza twitched.

"Don't you think that's a bit low for ya'?" the voice continued even though someone was evidently trying to shut him up by the constant shushing sounds "I mean, if you're so proud of that, why don't I just give an address to the nearest day-care and scare the crap out of little kiddies?"

Zabuza twitched some more and began to finger the handle of his cleaver.

"Shouldn't a big bad member of the former Seven Swordsmen be prouder of who he scares?" the voice continued. Just keep talking, buddy, Zabuza thought morbidly you'll be missing your vocal cords pretty soon. "Or is that big bad sword just for show?"

That does it! No one disses the cleaver! No one! Zabuza was up in seconds and with a leap, which even most Jonin would have been hard-pressed to imitate, landed at the source and swung the cleaver so hard it would've undoubtedly broken even the strongest of kunai.

…

Kakashi felt a shiver go up his spine, as he read his book before turning in, and wondered whether or not he should've brought the Chakra Fang with him, inside its sealing scroll, instead of the one that contained his complete collection of Icha-Icha.

…

**CLANK!**

To Zabuza's surprise he strike was blocked with two wrist blades and, found himself, staring eye-to-lense with the same man he spotted outside his window.

"Nice to meet you Zabuza-kun." The masked teen commented and Zabuza took the suffix in stride. There were a few men who were so confident in their gender that they were able to use -Kun in other men's names. There were, however, a few men who were just plain outright gay and he had a feeling that the man who was holding his own against him was not. "My name is Maelstrom and I'm here to tell you you've passed the test with flying colors."

Zabuza's eyes widened and the collection of desk-mice sighed in relief. Of to the corner of his sight he saw Haku who immediately held her hands together and winced apologetically for not warning him. With a huff he sheathed his cleaver and the wrist blades that were on the man's arms disappeared.

"So you're the man they sent ahead to recruit us?" Zabuza asked raised a nonexistent eyebrow and received a nod in return. Zabuza sighed and looked over Maelstrom in a warrior's perspective. The way the young man held himself was confident and self-assured. This either meant that the young man was cocky and arrogant or extremely powerful. Considering the way he blocked his strike, Zabuza was inclined to believe the latter. "So what do we do now?"

"I would appreciate it if you and your colleague, Haku-chan, would kindly take these… workers to Konoha." Maelstrom said while he handed Zabuza a scroll "Once you two arrive give this scroll to the gate guard and they'll see to it that you see the Hokage immediately.

"What'll you do?" asked Haku with a frown "you can't exactly take Gato and all his men out by yourself. And I haven't seen any reinforcements coming to help. So wouldn't it be wise to keep Zabuza-sama as well as myself here to watch your back?" Though she was adamant towards killing getting on their new employers good books meant they needed to have a healthy relationship her co-worker and that wouldn't be easy if the only she talked to was dead. By the time she finished, however, Maelstrom was already shaking his head.

"I'm trained to work alone," Maelstrom explained matter-o-factly, "and no matter how good you two may be you two are both ninja trained to fight in wide or open spaces. How would you and Zabuza-kun use your techniques indoors? Zabuza-kun's sword is designed to kill in wide swings taking entire platoons and though the only thing I've seen you do is throw senbon Haku-chan, though I'm sure that would help in the longer corridors and hallways, that won't cut it in the end. You'll end up getting swamped by superior numbers and you wouldn't be able to outmaneuver them because of the enclosed space of the building. The same goes with Zabuza-kun's silent killing technique he, won't be able to hide in the mist if it's crowded enough and his cleaver will only be able to thrust and unable to use those wide sweeps that he'll need to take them all out. I'll use clones to give me all the back-up I need and to seal the entrances. Since I'm armed mostly with short ranged weapons…" he held up his arm and immediately a blade sprouted from the cloak's sleeve"…my clones will have the same weapons as I do. And since my training is focused on closed-spaces and I have specialized jutsu for indoor attacks."

Zabuza and Haku gulped at the information. they had never noticed this before but Ninja's in battle were designed and trained to fight in wide open spaces so and never let the enemy have a terrain advantage. terrain no matter what played an important part in any battle. deserts oceans and even mountains were terrain advantages that four out of the five great ninja villages outsourced. Sand and Iwa both took advantage of the desert and Iwa built their village upon canyon wall's a technique to gain height advantage which Kumo took to heart when they did the same situating their buildings on the sides of mountains and connecting them by collapsible bridges. Mizu was on an island connected to the mainland of Mist country by a bridge that sank under the tide at least three times a day. any large ninja invasion force would have to weather barrages from the village's ninja and, unless the ninja were Jinchuuriki, the ones who would arrive on the shore would be too tired physically and with chakra depletion and wounds in effect they'll hardly be even able to fight. Konoha was the only oddity in the five villages. despite their high wall the trees outside easily dwarf them giving the enemy the advantage of stealth and giving them readily accessible ladders to climb their walls. in any engagement in the village the ones who'll be fighting will both be able to take the advantage of height due to the fact that most buildings were only five stories tall any ninja would be able to take the building over and launch attacks from there.

He rubbed the back of his sheepishly as he turned to the servants entrances. "I'm trained for this... no I am bred for this. Close combat is what I've been trained for, this building," he motioned towards the building situated it the trees "once I enter it it'll become a kill zone. No how many how many thugs Gato has…I'll kill them all. Even if I am just by myself, Haku-chan, with my ability to make clones I am never alone."

With a nod to the two ninja he entered the building.

…

Maelstrom immediately shrugged off his cloak the moment he entered the building allowing the grey material to fall limp upon the cold concrete of the buildings floor. Maelstrom hesitated for a second before removing the elbow length glove as well. From the tips of his fingers to his elbow black-flame tattoos writhed as if alive. A single ring of blue flame, the only thing stopping the parasite seal from covering his body at any moment, lay between pale skin and dark purple on both elbows, courtesy of his prisoner.

'_I don't like this' _Kyuubi toned disapprovingly. The fox had kept its silence while Maelstrom was with the 'inductees' namely Zabuza and Haku _'the power that you are playing with is designed for destruction of all things not just your enemy'_

'_Release the foxfire Kyuubi.' _Maelstrom thought back_ 'If I continue to run from the darkness I will never reach the light on the other side.'_

'_As hard-headed as ever' _Kyuubi sighed_ 'don't you dare succumb to the darkness on your way to your so-called 'light'… Naruto'_

'_Don't call me that Kyuubi…' _Naruto mentally said tiredly as he crossed his arms over his chest, careful not to have the Kitsune fire touch the fabric of his shirt. This was a rather old topic that the two had. Kyuubi used it to stall._ 'My name is Maelstrom not some ramen topping…besides if I succumb to the darkness you'll probably just drag me out." _He finished cheekily.

'_And don't you forget it'_ Kyuubi said softly before dissipating the foxfire. The fox was wary of the power the snake sannin had created when they first discovered the hidden base and was even more wary when Jariaya had 'perfected' it and placed the parasitic seal upon its jailor. The moment it was placed upon its host many years ago Kyuubi had spent her time constantly battling the seals effects while Naruto used it to his best efforts. The seal was perfect in an almost nightmarish sense. The seal destroyed the aspect of pain to its user and unlimited the muscle power its user could unleash. In simpler terms it was as if one opened all eight heavenly gates to empower its user. The seal was organic and spread along the body in time which was why she had placed the foxfire barriers that limited the seals movement at Naruto's request. Despite all the work Jariaya had placed on the seal it was dangerous and addicting to anyone without the regenerative power of a Jinchuuriki as well as the will power of one.

But even a Jinchuuriki has its limits and Naruto has been using it in every single fight for seven years, from the age of nine.

The black fire tattoo tendrils streaked along Naruto's body the moment the foxfire disappeared. Within moments the tattoos began to glow a sickly, gold color along his the entirety of his arms and shoulders and down his spinal cord. A moment later his skin shifted colors into a dark purple and the his snow white hair turned black as the power Naruto unleashed destroyed the braid he had carefully made and the waist length black hair blew in a non-existent breeze. His mask fell off revealing a featureless black face save two golden glowing angular eyes and a mouth set in a growl with elongated fangs.

In a flash of darkness he disappeared.

Where he was standing a single drop of blood hit the floor.

The Saboteur

Chapter three

Fin

3000 words!

Review please!


	4. Chapter 4

The Saboteur

By EyesofTCN

Disclaimer 1: I don't own Naruto

A/N: Almost to chapter five and it's already 10,000 words! I wonder how long chapter five'll be? There's an important announcement on the bottom so don't miss it!

…

You sit there…

In your…

Heartache…

Waitin' on some beautiful boy too…

Save you from your…

Old ways…

You play forgiveness!

Watch it now here he comes!

When You Were Young by The Killers.

…

Naroi trudged through the dank hallways of his boss' 'fortress'. The entire place was dank and was crawling with rats and other vermin. He had idly wondered his first day on the job what he had done his entire life as a mercenary to deserve to live in such a place. He had never killed women or children, unlike his colleagues who killed and raped with impunity. So what had he done to deserve such a horrible boss? Granted the pay was good, but that didn't really matter when people refused to even look him in the eye, let alone actually try to sell stuff to him.

Sometimes he wished that there was a union he could join or something, but the ninja have the standardized mercenary down pat so he couldn't really imagine a labor union standing up for his rights and living conditions as a killing machine.

"What's got you're panties in a bunch, Naroi?" his one eyed partner, Uraki, slurred as he stumbled next to him, his partner wasn't really one for sobriety. "we should go get some in the servants quarters," his partner continued as Naroi walked on and Uraki focused on not dropping the beer he was holding while stumbling after his partner" who knows what they might think if good-old-Uraki didn't show up to help them go to sleep, eh?"

Naroi snorted. They would be very happy if 'good-old-Uraki' didn't show up to help them go to 'sleep'. But seeing as he wanted to keep his head he just nodded as he turned into a hallway towards the servant's quarters. It was however only a few steps before he noticed something... different...

After a second he realized something:

A: his partner was NOT walking next to him anymore.

B: that he could practically feel chakra come off in waves from the dark hall way that his partners outline was clearly seen.

C: the outline was missing its head.

D: something was sticking out of his chest holding his still-beating heart a good foot from his chest.

...

A black hand savagely pulled out the man's heart. As the body collapsed its last sight was that of its heart being crushed by a humanoid mass of darkness outlined by gold markings.

...

Naruto scowled as the blood that was on his hands was absorbed into his skin darkening the purple even further. The seals absorbed the blood of his enemies to grow and strengthen him but it tainted his skin. He held up his hand and grimaced. Black armor covered the entirety of his fingertips and shone in the darkness. He was sure that underneath the solid black, blood armor that covered his fingertips was completely black.

He turned towards the opposite hallway away from the servant's quarters before pausing with a sigh while he looked upon his feet or rather where his feet were. Blood from both men's corpses coalesced into a large puddle which wrapped around his legs creating segmented armor which ended at his shin. The markings that adorned the side of his ankle sprouted from his the skin and began to hover an inch away from the appendage while letting off a harsh pulsating gold glow. He scowled at the evolution of the seal. During the years the seal absorbed blood and steadily grew and advanced more and more. The armor and the floating seal on his heel were clear indicators of that.

His head snapped up as rapid footsteps approached. His sense of smell picked up the adrenaline coursing through the men's veins and he grimaced once again.

"Dammit." he growled as his debut hour was finally taking its toll. He had forsaken stealth and left the bodies where had killed them. Undoubtedly all the guards were warned and were going through their rounds in packs larger than before and Gato was probably mobilizing his men to do a clean sweep of the entire base.

He dulled the glow of the seal by restricting his chakra flow and, using his armored fingers, attached himself to the low ceiling of the damp, hallway to better his chances of surprising the group and soon enough the men's voices become clear enough for him to pick out.

"…did you see those corpses, man?" one of the guards whispered sounding slightly nauseous. "All the blood was gone!" the man continued "it was as if something sucked it all out! What hell does that sort of shit!"

"Shut up, Rai!"Another man hissed at the now-named Rai "Just stop talking! You'll end up getting us killed!" two others mimicked the response and Naruto could only marvel at how right the men were before freezing at the next voice.

"He's here" said a man through a breath mask and the noise stopped immediately as the men's hearts began to beat faster, Naruto cursed explosively inside his head. A sensor type! How the hell did Gato have a sensor type with him? Sensor types were almost as valuable as Jinchuuriki in every country. Their ability to detect enemy forces in any type of weather at any time of day was vital to any shinobi army. The Byakugan bloodline was in fact an important military aspect because of its ability to see past obstacles and pinpoint chakra a good five miles away and not because of its ability to let it's user 'see' and neutralize chakra pathways.

"Where is he, Gann?"Asked one of the men. He heard the unsheathing of four swords and a crossbow bolt being nocked into place.

"Further down the hallway," the breathy voice responded "he's on the ceiling, probably using chakra. Be careful and use numbers to overwhelm the ninja. With you pressuring him I'll be able to maim him with a bolt or two so one of you can kill him."

You wish. Naruto launched himself from the ceiling toward the voices. His thoughts shifted onto the crossbow holder as he leapt trough the air. The faster he took care of the long-range specialist the faster he'll be able to take the others out from afar. Naruto black flipped in the air and landed in the middle of the group of men the moment the four with blades charged down the hallway. Faster than the man in front of him could scream Naruto crushed the man's throat with one hand while plunging the other through the crossbow and into the man's chest and crushing the heart. The man's blood was drained and absorbed into his body and more 'armor' segments formed to cover the entirety of his fingers.

Only moments after he pulled out his hand from bloodless corpse did the first of the swordsmen found himself without a jaw and unable to scream for help as he faced Naruto. Nevertheless the man, though spewing blood from his half-face, swiped at Naruto forcing the seal empowered youth back. Hearing the commotion the other three swordsmen appeared at their half-faced all's side.

His eyes took all four of the guards in. The guards wore no uniform and wore differing clothes. All four of them were trembling, though he was sure that in the half-faced man's case it was due to blood loss, he was sure that the other three were trembling because of fear. They wore differing clothes and held differing sized swords, the smallest being no larger than a ninjato, or ninja blade, and the largest was a nodachi, a sword nearly the entire length of the man holding it who was an impressive six feet tall. Silence seemed to permeate the air as the swordsmen took him in. Naruto could imagine the sight that they saw before them: a being covered in glowing seals, clawed hands that dripped of blood which slowly traveled and was absorbed into its skin, darkness floating behind it and a face that showed no more than glowing, gold eyes and a savage grimace.

Almost as one they let out a breath of fear.

It was a mistake they would never regret as Naruto charged them at that very moment.

Naruto finished the half-faced man first, almost like an apology for not killing the man at the first strike. Before the man could bring the sword down at him he plunged his right hand into the man's abdomen and after gripping the spinal cord ripped his hand out with said item out violently before throwing in with inhumane strength at the one with a ninjato. Bone met flesh and impaled the man in the neck, killing the man instantly as the spinal cord severed the man's own. The two he was left with, armed with a nodachi and a katana, charged him blindly hoping to kill or wound him. The first one to strike was the tall man with the nodachi. His sword strike though powerful was slow and clumsy. Naruto rolled to the side in a dodge and leapt from a crouch and as gravity took him he gripped the taller man shoulder and swung his knee into back of the man's head. With a sickening_ 'CRACK!' _the head was sent straight to the floor and Naruto crushed it as he landed on it after flipping of the now-headless body.

He looked around for the last man. Could the man have left to warn his allies? Naruto felt irritation and slight respect for the man. While leaving his comrades behind was a pretty bad move the man could have potentially made the situation worse for Naruto now that they could identify him.

There was a sudden '_SQUELCH!'_ and he found himself impaled the sword blade sticking out of his stomach. He stayed absolutely still as his regenerative abilities kicked in. When he was in human form he was able to regenerate from gashes from swords kunai and shuriken with little difficulty stabs though were completely different. Getting an organ punctured wasn't exactly the best way to test your regenerative skills but over the years he found himself at odds with skilled swordsmen who used stabs as well as the faster swipes. In his human state he would need to dispatch the enemy the moment he was stabbed and take careful measures to take the blade out. In his demon seal form however…

He gripped the blade that extended out of his stomach and to his enemy's surprise and fear twisted the blade sideways and yanked it out of his body through his side. Ignoring the man's cry of fear as he yanked the sword out of his hand and turned the blade upon its owner. Holding the blade in reverse grip he slashed the man through the gut horizontally up to the neck and blood exploded out of the wound as the man crumpled. The blood engulfed Naruto and sank into the wound at his side. In less than a second a wound that would've killed a normal Jinchuuriki healed not leaving a mark of its presence besides that of a tear in the shirt's cloth.

Naruto stood in the midst of the bodies for a moment before turning into the dark hallway. The longer he was in the form the more changes would become permanent. His hands, though clad entirely in blood armor now, were not yet permanent. The seal needed to adapt and change so that every time he changes into sealed mode it would have more segments and armor pieces that it did before. The seal was, for all intents and purposes, a living being that had complete control over itself at a cellular level. Over time old cells were killed by newer stronger cells which replaced the old cells. The armor was the flashiest byproduct of the seal. It was lighter than paper, stronger than diamonds and sharper than the best katana. Wood, ice and, even bone were easily cut by the armor's edge. The armor however was not the strangest byproduct of the seal. because of the seal's continuing changes and evolution it needed raw materials and since it no material were readily available at any moment of any time it set itself to reusing and reabsorbing 'outdated' cells as well as any blood that Naruto absorbed into new cells and since the cells never really 'died' the law of diminishing returns weren't practical to Naruto's case.

In short he had inadvertently been turned into Orochimaru's greatest dream: an immortal monster.

There were, however, very large side-effects to the seal...

Naruto suddenly coughed. Seals began to criss-cross and glow all across his body and armor began to grow all over. Naruto collapsed onto all fours as whatever he had eaten came back up with a vengeance. He felt _it _happening again_._

_'Kyuubi!' _he mentally screamed. Armor rapidly began to grow all over him body _' shut off all my chakra!'_

_'Shit! It's happening already?'_

_'Kyuubi!'_ Naruto screamed again as he clawed at his face trying to take the spreading armor off to give his partner some time...

_'Relax! I got it!' _Kyuubi tried to relax her container as he struggled against the growing armor. She herself couldn't stand the thing taking control of what was in control of her. But it was the price of power and power will make her eternal life as well as her containers eternal life MUCH easier.

Naruto succumbed the moment the armor engulfed his face

...

Gato sat behind his desk shivering in fear. Screams echoed through the entire complex. His eyes unable to tear themselves away from the screen.

He remembered what he had told his men only an hour before... before the screams started.

It's only one ninja...

One shinobi can't kill you all...

The one to bring the ninja's head will get a raise...

In front of his eyes he saw what a fool he had been in doing so.

The men had charged into the complex's bowels with gusto. They sought wealth and blood being presented both on a silver platter just made the deal much more appetizing. They would find none of the wealth… but all of the blood.

What they found was no shinobi, but rather a monster that thirsted of blood and flesh. One that was impervious to any weapons that they had. The monster had no pity and killed and consumed with impunity even as men pleaded and begged for mercy. The monster's hands cut through armor as if it were water. It was… smaller than what most would imagine. The size however was the least of the thug's worries. Armor lined every inch of the beings body. Sleek yet archaic at the same time, the segmented armor deflected the strongest sword and even the odd mace in his army of thugs made no purchase on the armor. Blades broke from attempted parries. Axes were shattered upon impact. Nothing that the brutes had were capable of penetrating the armor. Even if the thugs did have something that could penetrate the armor the being they faced was faster than the ninja that a few of them had faced before-hand.

From the security cameras in Gato's room the man himself found the monster. The being moved with unnerving grace even as he watched it decapitate a man and stab another through the man's makeshift wooden shield and into the man's chest. The only difference in the entirety of the being's armor was the jaw. Instead of being black as midnight much like the rest of the armor it was silver and seemed to have some sort of use… but he perished the thought as his steel doors groaned as something crashed against it. More screams followed as the door took more hits. Huge bumps of steel formed where Gato surmised, in a calm that surprised even himself at the moment, his men had hit the door with enough force to shatter concrete.

Once the screams stopped the door opened in a calm manner that wasn't right for the situation and entered what was the most undoubtedly terrifying being Gato had ever laid eyes on. Segmented armor covered the entirety of the things body. The smoothest part of the being was the featureless black and silver jawed mask that Gato surmised was the things head despite the lack of eyes or eyeholes.

Gato locked onto the things face for a mere moment and then faster than he could see the being had him by a death grip his legs flailing wildly as he tried to free himself from the strong-as-steel grip.

"What do you –erg- want?" he managed to say even though his through was being constricted to the point of snapping "I-I'll give y-you an-anything! J-just l-let me go!"

The creature seemed to cock its head and its grip slackened a bit seemingly giving the man breath. There was a sudden hissing sound however and the jaw detached revealing a fanged mouth which whispered into Gato's ear as he was brought closer.

"Blood…"

Before Gato could formulate a reply the mouth sank into his neck and snapped his neck.

…

Omake: Kakashi's pride.

Kakashi stood on the bridge wondering what the hell had happened the past week. Out of nowhere money that was stolen from the town by illegal means suddenly appeared and the small community found itself free from shackles as kidnapped loved one returned and announced that Zabuza and his apprentice with outside help destroyed Gato Inc. Many a tear had been shed that day as families were re-united and the yolk of oppression thrown off. Leaving the four shinobi transfixed and feeling left out since all they did was train the entire time.

….

A/N: to everyone out there this will be the last chapter of The Saboteur due to lack of self esteem on my part as well as lack of feedback. I as of now have absolutely NO idea where this story stands. No one told me anything specific besides InaRealPickle who I am very grateful for. This story will be put on permanent hiatus and will only be brought back under the following conditions:

Story gets fifty reviews while on hiatus all from different people. (not happening trust me)

Sometime in the future (very far future) it wins's in a poll to be reinstated.

I REALLY WANT TO! (least likely since my muse practically murdered this itself)


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